Pneumatic hand trowel



Nov. 19, 1946.

w. P. DAY :rAL

PNEUMATIC HAND TROWEL Filed July 15, 1944 5 SheetsSheet 1 WM NN MN QHWN NM b4 Nov. 19, 1946. V w. P. DAY ET AL 2,411,317

PNEUMATIC HAND TROWEL Filed July 15, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS. WILLIAM P. DAY

Nov. 19, 1946. DAY ETAL 2,411,317

PNEUMATIC HAND TROWEL Filed July 1;, 1944 s Sheets-Sheet s 19 23 0 INVENTORS. I q 34 WILLIAM P. DAY.

JOHN .1. DAY. WILLIAM P. DAY .,JR. VINCENT E. HEGLAW.

Patented Nov. 19, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE William P. Day, Cleveland Heights, John J. Day, Shaker Heights, William P. Day, Jr., Cleveland Heights, and Vincent E. Heglaw, East Cleveland, Ohio Application July 13, 1944, Serial No. 544,659.

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a hand trowel for spreading and compressing a layer of mortar or concrete mix and which is provided with power operated means for imparting. rapid and violent vibrations to the layer of mix whereby to cause such layer to settle and to. eliminate Voids and air pockets.

' One of the objects of the invention is to provide. a hand trowel for spreading and compressing a layer of concrete which includes a pneumatically operated rotor having an eccentrically weighted portionand which is driven at high speed so as to impart rapid and violent vibrations to the layer of concrete in a plane substantially parallel with the surface of the layer.

A- further' object of the invention is to provide a hand tool or trowel for spreading, compressing and vibrating a layer of concrete and which includes a vibrator unit in the form of an air driven turbine having an eccentrically weightedportion so disposed that rapid and violent vibrations will be imparted to a layer of concrete mix in a' plane substantially parallel with the horizontal surface.

' Another object of the invention is to provide trowel: for; spreading. and'vibrating a layer of concrete. mix and which. comprises a light weight casting having mounted therein an air driven turbine for imparting. rapid and violent, vibrations thereto.

Another object of the invention is to provide a; hand, trowel: for spreading, compressing and vibrating; a layer of concrete, the working face of: the. trowel. including an inclined portion and a. contiguous flat portion, such trowel being provided with power operated. means for. imparting rapid and violent vibrations thereto in a-plane substantially parallel with the. working face of. the-trowel.

A still further object of the invention is to providea trowel for compressing and spreading a; layer of concrete and which is provided with means for imparting rapid and Violent Vibrations thereto, such trowel being provided with means for detachably. securing thereto any one of several tools or implements which are adapted to extend. into a mass of concrete to vibrate the same.

Further; and more limited objects of the in- I vention; will. appear as; the description proceeds and by reference to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of our improved trowel;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional 29-2 of; Fi 4;

Fig. 3 is a top plan. view of the trowel shown in Figs. 1 and 2.;

' Fig. 4 is a view in end elevation of the trowel shown in Fig. 1';

Fig. 5 is a detail view in elevation of or turbine;

Fig. 6 is av vertical sectional View on the line 6-6. of Fig. 5;.

Fig. '7 is a bottom plan View on a reduced scale of the trowel shown in. Fig. 1 and having secured thereto a trowel for use in imparting vibrations to a. concrete column;

Fig. 8 is a view of the trowel taken at right angles to Fig. 7;. i

Fig. 9 is a view in end elevation of. a tool which is adapted to. be secured to the trowel for forming and vibrating curbing;

Fig. 10. is a fragmentary view in elevation of the attachment shown in Fig. 9;

Fig. 1.1. is a view in side elevation of'the trowel and attachment shown in Figs. '7' and 8;.

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary View of another form of' tool or implement for vibrating concrete;

Fig. l3is a fragmentary view in elevation of the. tool. shown in Fig. 12;

V Fig. 14 isa. fragmentary view in elevation ofanother form of tool used for vibrating concrete;

Fig. 15 is. a side view of the tool shown in Fig. 14-;

Fig. 16 is a. View partly in section and partly in. elevation. showing the manner of using the trowel to impart vibrations to aconcrete column whil'e itis being, formed;

Fig.1? is a view partly in elevation and partlyin. sectionshowing. another. use of the. trowel for imparting vibrations to a. concrete floor being. formed;

Fig. 131s a view in elevation showing another form of 'tool or attachment that may be applied to the trowel for imparting vibrations to a layer of concrete; and

Fig. 19 is a top plan view of a still differentv form of attachment for applying vibrations to alayer of. concrete.

Referring now to the drawings, the reference character. I designates a casting which is preferably formed of light material such as aluminum or magnesium and which is generally of the shape shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. One end of the casting is rounded, as indicated at 2, while the opposite end is pointed, as indicated at 3. Extending generally longitudinally of the casting are a plurality of ribs indicated by the view on the line the rotor portion of the casting is recessed and disposed therein is ajturbine, l shown in detail in Figs. and 6. The turbine I0 is keyed to a shaft H which shaft is journaled in bearings 12 and I3. T

Disposed over the recess is a plate M which is secured in place by means of a plurality of bolts [5. The. casting is provided with a bore l6 into which leads an air line ll. l'ntersecting' the bore I6 is a bore is disposed substantially at right angles thereto. The bore l6 constitutes the inlet port for the turbine and the bore I8 the exhaust port, it being understood that the air line I1 and which consists essentially of a pipe 34 which is secured to the trowel by means of a strap 35.

- The pipe 34 extends a considerable distance beis connected with a suitable source of pressure.

The reference characters It and designate apair of plates which are preferably formed of rubber or similar composition and which are bolted to the casting by bolts 2l.' Extending through the plates l9 and 2B is a, bolt 22 which is enclosed within a rubber sleeve 23. A nut 24 is threadedly secured to the bolt 23 and secures the same in place so as to provide a handle for manually operating the trowel.

The reference character 25 designates a curved plate which is shown in detail in Figs. 9 and 10 and which has welded thereto a plurality of bars 26. The bars 26 are secured to the casting by a plurality of nuts 21. The plate 25 is shaped anddesigned'so as to engage a curved surface such as a curbing of a road'and serves to impart vibrations thereto.

. In the operation of the trowel a layer of concrete, mortar or other suitable material is spread over the surface of a road and the trowel is placed on this surface and operated manually to spread, compress and vibrate the layer. Due to the shape of the working face of the trowel, it will be, seen that the concrete or mix passes under the inclined portion 1 and is compressed into a thinner layer. The trowel is preferably moved in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4. .It is of course to be understood that while the trowel is being moved over the surface of the concrete, the turbine or rotor is being driven at high speed of the order of 5000 to 7500 revolutions per minute.

By reference to Fig. 6, it will be seen that the r rotor or turbine is provided with an eccentrically weighted portion 50* so that rapid and violent vibrations are imparted to the trowel in a plane generally parallel to the surface o-fthe concrete. The trowel is of light weight and is easily manipulated by one person. Several attachments are provided for the trowel which may be quickly secured thereto or detached therefrom.

In Figs. 7 and 8 there is disclosed an attachment which is in the form of a strap 28 which is secured in place by means of bolts 29 and 30. Secured to the strap, preferably by being welded thereto, is a rod 3| which is preferably made up of a plurality of sections threadedly secured together. This attachment is particularly useful in applying vibrations to a column of concrete as it is being poured. It will of course be understood that any number of sections may be used depending upon the depth of the column. The reference character 32 designates a tool which yond the ends of the trowel and is useful in applyingvibrations to the surface of a large area of concrete. In Fig. 19 the pipe 34 is secured to the trowel at right angles to the position shown in Fig. 18 and serves the same general purpose.

It will now be clear that we have provided a trowel which will serve tospread, compress and vibrate a layer of concrete and which will accomplish the objects of the invention hereinbefore stated. Various changes may be made in the de-v tails of construction and arrangement of. parts without departing from the spirit of our invention. The embodiments of the invention herein disclosed are to be considered merely as illustrae tive and not in a limiting sense as the invention is limited onlyin accordance with the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

1. A tool for applying a thin layer of concrete to an underlying layer and having a face adapted. for troweling, comprising a body having side walls and a bottom wall, vibrating mechanism mounted in the body of the tool for imparting vibrations thereto, a member having a portion formed to extend across the outside of said bottom wall and portions extending up along the opposite sides of said body, said member including a portion extending laterally from said first-named portion for applying a concrete mix to an underlying surface, and means for removably securing said member to said body.

2. The combination of a vibrating tool having vibrating means associated therewith and having a face adapted for troweling, said tool having a body portion having a leveling surface for leveling soft concrete, ridges extending along said surface,

a member adapted to be attached to said body and extending laterally therefrom, said member including a strap-like portion extending across the leveling surface and lying intermediate and in engageable relation with two of said ridges, and means for releasably securing said strap-like portion to the sides of said body. I

3.. The combination of a trowel and vibrator for spreading and simultaneously vibrating a layer of concrete mix including a body having a troweling surface, ridges extending alongsaid surface, a member adapted to be attached to said body and having a strap-likeportion which extends across said troweling surface and lies intermedi ate and in engageable relation with two of said ridges, and means for releasablyv securing said strap-like portion toisaid body.

'' WILLIAHM'IP. DAY.

JOHN J. DAY.

VINCENT E. 

